A few weeks ago, we published a blog entitled How Micro-Influencers Can Help Your Business Growth, which discussed how Australian brands can benefit from working with an influencer. Today, we will use that blog as a launch pad for more adventures to the world of influencer marketing.
A Deeper Dive into the World Micro-Influencers
In the mentioned blog, we learned how micro-influencers can boost a brand’s reputation and of course, sales. In this blog, we will discuss a new angle—how to choose the right influencer for your brand and its marketing campaign.
The secret’s out: influencers can help your brand. They can help you connect with your target audience, persuade consumers to patronise your products and/or services, and create a solid loyal following. If you think your brand could get a help or two from micro-influencers, keep on reading as we will reveal five ways to pick the perfect niche persuader for your business.
It’s a Match: Choosing an Influencer for Your Brand
For an influencer-brand relationship to click and grow, there are several things you need to tick off from a checklist. When you pick a person to represent your brand, even if that influencer has thousands of followers online, your brand’s relationship with him or her won’t work if there are compatibility issues. Yes, it’s like a real-life relationship—for it to work there should be no irreconcilable differences.
Thinking about getting your brand an influencer? Our team of experienced social media and digital marketing specialists has listed these things to help you in the influencer marketing arena.
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Know your audience.
When choosing an influencer, think of these questions first: “How will our current audience feel about getting this person to represent our brand? Will they be OK with it? Or will they react negatively?” For you to answer these questions, you must first know how your audience behave and think.
Do some research about your audience’s preference when it comes to the type of person they want to be associated with. If your brand strongly believes about animal welfare, then, by all means don’t hire an influencer who has a record of animal abuse otherwise your audience will say goodbye to you ASAP.
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Check your own backyard.
You don’t have to look far and wide when searching for an influencer. You might want to consider working with someone who already follows your brand as he or she already believes in your company’s products and goals. Check your social profile and look for someone in your network who may have what it takes to represent your business.
When your influencer has already been following your brand, you will not have a hard time working with him or her. Everything will likely go smoothly and will naturally fall in the right place. There is no need for exhaustive brand immersion and introduction because that person already knows what you sell and what your company’s values are. Simply put, it makes the selection less time and budget consuming.
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Create a solid strategy.
When you are ready to contact an influencer, you have to come prepared. Ready everything before sending him or her email or setting up a meeting. First, determine what marketing goals you are expecting to get from tapping an influencer. Will it be for brand reputation improvement? For traffic referrals? For sales boost? Once you know the core objective of your campaign, you can easily introduce your brand to the influencer.
When it is time to talk with the influencer, inform him or her about the nitty-gritty of the whole campaign you have in mind. Throw in details like the timeline, budget, brand guidelines, and the number of posts you expect from his or her end. It is also encouraged to get his or her insights as it is extremely common among influencers to be drawn to brands that allow them to pitch their ideas. Remember, it is a relationship and it has to be a two-way street.
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Let the influencer do his/her trick.
As mentioned, influencers don’t want to be boxed in; they want their voices to be heard and their ideas come to life. So to build a stronger relationship with your brand influencer, let him or her recommend ideas for the campaign. Alternatively, you can ask him or her to participate in gimmicks you have in mind such as an Instagram Takeover or releasing promo codes exclusive to the influencer’s namesake.
By giving your influencer the freedom to represent your brand, you are allowing him or her to be creative, which is very important for people in the influencer marketing industry.
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Analyse data.
The real battle only begins when you finally reveal who your influencer is to your audience. Your brand needs to monitor the stats and data of your social media profiles to gauge the effectiveness of your influencer. By analysing the numbers, you would know in which parts of the campaign you need to improve on or to change completely.
Check the likes, shares, views, and—the comments, especially. The comments of your pre-influencer followers will tell you how the campaign is working. Do they dig the path you are traversing or no? From there, you can improve your campaign’s route.
Influencer marketing can be quite tricky for Australian brands who may be considered as traditional and those that are very new to the online marketing game. It is so easy to get lost especially if you don’t have any experience in working with niche persuaders.
Yes, it could be complicated at the start but don’t be discouraged. The benefits outweigh the hassle, trust us. To get a jumpstart in the influencer marketing game, give us a call or email us and our seasoned social media specialists will help you connect the dots.